It's Monday 9/8! What Are You Reading?

Late start this morning and a busy day ahead! My husband arrives back home today with his Dad, who is moving here to Delaware from Oklahoma. They spent the last week sorting, packing, and moving. Meanwhile, I got a lot done here on my own, but it was also more exhausting doing everything by myself. The dishwasher broke this weekend, we ran out of gas for the grill, and I need to run to the grocery store to stick up for the homecoming. Looking forward to getting back to "normal."

Here's what we've been reading this past week:

• I finished The Goldfinch by Donna Tarrt last Monday. It was an amazing book, from the first page to the last. Despite its almost-800 pages, it was so compelling I could hardly stand to set it down. We had a great discussion of it at my book group last week - 9 people liked or loved it, and 1 person hated it. I'll try to write a review this week.
• I finished an audio book, In the End by Demitria Lunetta, a teen/YA post-apocalyptic novel and sequel to In the After. I enjoyed the first book, and the second one has pulled me right in again and provided a satisfying conclusion.
• I started - and finished! - another teen/YA audio book last week: The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson. This was an unusual novel - I'm not sure quite how to categorize it - about a teen girl growing up in the midst of a serial killer on the loose in her small town. The ending was not at all what I expected - still thinking about that...
• I started reading The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo for my neighborhood book group. It's different than I expected but good so far. Kind of historical fantasy set in Malaysia in 1893 - it takes place mostly in the afterlife as defined by Chinese beliefs. Unique and interesting so far. This is my first book for the Travel the World in Books Challenge and Readathon.
• My husband, Ken, is reading The Magicians by Lev Grossman on his Kindle, though I am guessing he didn't have very much reading time last week, with all the work they had to do! 
• Last time I checked, Jamie, 20, was still reading The Crown of Stones: Magic-Price by C.L. Schneider. His reading time came to a screeching halt when he went back to college.
• Craig, 16, finished Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. He and his friends who slept over this weekend admitted it wasn't too bad for a summer reading assignment!

I only wrote one review last week but squeezed in some other posts as well:

Review of Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick, a teen/YA that everyone should read!

2014 Big Book Summer Challenge Wrap-Up - my own big book reading this summer 

Travel the World in Books Challenge and Readathon - my sign-up

Snapshot Saturday - a few beach photos from August

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.