Monday, February 24, 2014

It's Monday 2/24! What Are You Reading?


Monday morning - I love the feeling of starting a new week, with new possibilities and a fresh start. We had a busy weekend but with time for fun, too...and everyone was feeling good! This week will be a busy one as well, but we always make time for reading:
  • I finished the teen/YA novel Thin Space by Jody Casella, a story about a twin grieving the loss of his brother and trying to find an opening between this world and the next. It was very good, mostly a realistic story about grief, with a touch of the supernatural.
  • Now I am reading my next book group selection, The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. by Nichole Bernier, for my neighborhood book group on Wednesday. I am loving this book and staying up much too late at night reading! It's about a woman who inherits the journals of a good friend after her untimely death and finds out there were a lot of things she didn't know about her friend. It is also about motherhood and self-identity and the way people change over time. The author offered to answer our questions in a personalized video clip, so I am very much looking forward to hearing from her.
  • I finished listening to The Good Sister by Wendy Corsi Staub, a thriller on audio. I thought I had it all figured out, but there were still some surprises at the end!
  • I am now listening to Insurgent by Veronica Roth, Book 2 in the Divergent trilogy. We started listening to this on vacation last summer, but my husband and son lost interest (mainly because it had been too long since they read Divergent), so I am finally getting back to it.
  • And I am still reading 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam...but I am finally getting near the end! It's been very good, and there is a lot of advice in it that I want to try to implement.
  • My husband, Ken, is still reading John Grisham's latest, Sycamore Row, a follow-up to his famous A Time to Kill and a Christmas gift from our son. He's enjoying it and pointed out that it counts as a Big Book!
  • Jamie, 19, is still reading The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (I think) - he had a busy week, finishing up his Calc 3 final from last semester while attending new classes for this semester.
I didn't have as much writing time last week as I'd hoped, but I did manage two posts:

Review of The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides, a literary novel.

Weekend Cooking, about our new experiences with restricted diets, including healthy, tasty recipes that can be enjoyed by anyone.

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 Unleashing Readers.  

4 comments:

  1. I'm reading Divergent finally. I expect I'll be picking up Insurgent shortly after finishing this, if I can fit it in.

    The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. sounds very interesting. My book club meets tonight and we're discussing The End of Your Life Book Club. I have to be honest that it was just okay. I had higher hopes for it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D sounds wonderful and it sounds like you are going to have a great book club meeting about it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sandra Martin10:21 PM

    Actually listening to an audio book. Unusual for me! The Paris Wife by Paula Mclain is the story of Ernest Hemingways first wife. Her name was Hadley Richardson and she was very instrumental in him being able to achieve the status he did. My husband has read just about everything Hemingway wrote and we are having some interesting discussions on this subject. As the title suggests, much of the story takes place in Paris from 1921-1926. At that time there were many soon to be famous writers and artists living there. On a trip to Paris we tried to visit many of the places that are mentioned in this book. Some of the cafes still exist! The author researched their biographies, letters, and Hemingway's novels and tried to imagine this story of their charmed and tortured marriage. In his novel "A Moveable Feast" Hemingway says of his first wife Hadley Richardson "I wish I had died before I loved anyone but her". Quite a statement!
    I am loving this audio book and highly recommend this to everyone whether they are fans of Hemingway or not. I really do not want it to end. Beautiful writing.



    ReplyDelete
  4. Glad you are enjoying The Paris Wife, Mom! I haven;t read it yet myself, but Pam (across the street) read it and enjoyed it, so it is on my list (my never-ending list!). Crazy as it sounds, I have never read any Hemingway!! I plan to rectify that this year!

    Sue

    ReplyDelete