Happy Memorial Day for those in the US! Hope you are enjoying the long weekend.
Whew, this time of year is sooo busy! This week is my high school son's last week of classes, my college son's last 2 final exams and then moving back home for the summer, and my mom coming to visit for a couple of days.
As Memorial Day weekend is the official start of summer here, I launched my annual Big Book Summer Challenge on Saturday! This is a summer challenge, so I keep it low-key and easy...you only need to plan to read 1 book of 400 pages or longer in order to participate. Check out my own plans for my big book summer and then hop over to the challenge page to sign up!
Here's what we've all been reading this week:
- I finished Velva Jean Learns to Fly by Jennifer Niven, a historical novel about a young woman on her own for the first time who becomes a pilot during World War II. My book group all enjoyed the novel very much.
- Next, I jumped right into my next book group pick (I belong to a few too many book groups!), The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom on my Kindle. I haven't read an Albom novel since The Five People You Meet in Heaven, probably 10 years ago. It's interesting so far, and I am looking forward to discussing it with my family book group.
- I finished Popular by teen author Maya Van Wagenen on audio and loved it. It's a teen/YA memoir about following the advice of a 50's popularity guide in the modern world. The teen author is a wonderful writer, and her story is an interesting one.
- I am now listening to another teen/YA book, The Here and Now by Ann Brashares (of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants fame). It's about a teen girl and her community who traveled from the future to live in our time after plagues decimated earth. I love time travel plots, so this story has me captivated so far!
- My husband, Ken, is reading Doctor Sleep by Stephen King and enjoying it. That one definitely qualifies as a Big Book!
- Jamie, 19, is still reading The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham, the first book in The Dagger and the Coin fantasy series. He is enjoying it, though his reading time is limited since it's finals week.
Review of The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater, a teen/YA novelWhat are you and your family reading this week?
Launch of my annual Big Book Summer Challenge - choose your big book(s) and join the fun!
My own Big Book Summer Challenge plans
Weekend Cooking post, with several easy, tasty, nutritious meals
What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version hosted by Unleashing Readers.
Sounds like things have been busy. Good luck with your challenge. I haven't really looked ahead to summer reading yet except to schedule in the review books on my stack. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteOoh, I love your challenge. That's wonderful that your husband reads, too. I hope he enjoys Doctor Sleep. I'm a King fan, too. Have a wonderful Memorial Day!
ReplyDeleteI've heard good things about 'The Here and Now' and you can't really go wrong with Stephen King. I'm going to check out the Summer Challenge, hopefully it will inspire me to finally read 'War & Peace'! Thanks for sharing :) I hope you enjoy all of them!
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Juli @ Universe in Words
Since I have a collection of teen etiquette manuals from the 1950s, I had hopes for Popular that were just impossible to meet. It was good, but didn't go the way that I thought it would. I also didn't think that the Cornell book was the best of the bunch. Still, an interesting premise. Have you read Cabot's How to Be Popular or Leavitt's Going Vintage. Must reads to go along with this one.
ReplyDeleteI just saw Popular in the bookstore yesterday, and I thought of your blog! If I remember correctly, you posted about this last week! I enjoyed The Here and Now. The first half was my favorite. I am excited to hear your thoughts when you finish! :) :)
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