Monday, October 27, 2014

It's Monday 10/27! What Are You Reading?


Ah, the quiet solitude of a Monday morning. We had a busy, tiring but fun weekend. We got together with some of our oldest friends Saturday night and laughed and reminisced about our days in New Orleans together in the 80's. Yesterday, our college son came home for the day, and my father-in-law joined us. We drove through the gorgeous fall colors to our favorite fall stop, Northbrook Orchard, where we picked out our pumpkins and ate their amazing fresh apple cider donuts - still hot and covered with cinnamon sugar. After dinner at home, we carved our pumpkins. Like I said, tiring but lots of fun!

We continued our spooky Halloween reading last week:
  • I finished Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn and absolutely loved it.  It has some truly nasty, sick characters (like Gone Girl which she also wrote) but a sympathetic main character and lots of suspense. I liked it better than Gone Girl and stayed up way too late several nights in a row reading it!
  • I also finished Ghostopolis, a middle-grade graphic novel by Doug TenNapel that was perfect for the season, about a boy who gets stuck in an afterlife populated by ghosts and other creepy creatures.
  • I had to depart from my spooky October reading to start The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown, the selection for this week's neighborhood book group discussion. I guess I waited too long to start it because I'm only about 40% done (on my Kindle) and the book group meeting is Wednesday! But it's very good so far - compelling and more interesting than I thought it would be.
  • I also started a new audio, On a Clear Day by Walter Dean Myers, a teen/YA dystopian novel. It's different than I expected and different than any other dystopian novel I have read before. It takes place in the near future, in 2035, and is more thoughtful than action-oriented. It was a bit slow to start, but I'm enjoying it so far.
  • My husband, Ken, is reading The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes, about a time-traveling serial killer, that I read earlier this month. He seems to be enjoying it.
  • I have no idea what Jamie, 20, is reading now! 
I wrote two new reviews last week, both books perfect for the season, in case you are looking for some good spooky reads for this week (I enjoyed both of these very much):

Review of The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes, about a time-traveling serial killer

Review of The Other Side of Dark by Sarah Smith, a teen/YA novel that combines a supernatural ghost story with a real historical backdrop

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.   


My family and I with our finished jack-o-lanterns.
 

6 comments:

  1. My book club meets on Wednesday too - and I'm only about halfway through my book. Good luck finishing! I'm hoping to sit and read for a couple hours tonight.

    I really need to read Sharp Objects. It sounds great.

    I love the pumpkins! And those donuts sound wonderful. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It was awesome to see your boys! Wow, they are tall! I love connecting pictures with people. I have On a Clear Day and haven't read it yet. I am glad to read that it is intriguing. I will have to read it soon! I will remind myself that it has a slow start. Thank you for that tip. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am a Walter Dean Myers fan, so as soon as I read your post, I put it on hold at my library. Unfortunately they don't have it as an audiobook.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I hope you did good with getting some good reading in for the Wonderfully Wicked Read-a-Thon. It sounds like you had a fabulous week!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a beautiful fall day you all had. Waem Apple cider donuts sounds heavenly! I have Sharp Objects on my TBR. If its better than Gone Girl I have to read it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You are making me jealous of anywhere but Florida! Fall doesn't really happen here....
    I'm so glad you liked Ghostopolis. Doug TenNapel is one of my favorite GN authors.

    Happy reading this week! :)

    ReplyDelete