It's Monday 10/6! What Are You Reading?

I missed my Monday post last week because my husband and I were in New Orleans, celebrating our 25th anniversary. We returned home on Tuesday, me with bronchitis, and on Friday, my mom and her husband arrived to help us celebrate my husband's 60th birthday, including a party with friends and family on Saturday. And my Dad and his wife arrive today for a 3-day visit. So, yeah, not a lot of time for writing or blogging lately!

But we still had plenty of reading time, especially while traveling - here's what we've read the past two weeks:

• I finished The Agony of Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and enjoyed it so much that I went to the library in search of another Alice book, where the main character is older. I read Dangerously Alice and loved that one, too. The entire Alice series was #2 on the list of Most Frequently Banned Books 2000 - 2009, so I read these for Banned Books Week.
• I also finished listening to The Things You Kiss Goodbye by Leslie Connor on audio, a teen/YA novel by the author of Waiting for Normal, which I loved. It was excellent - review to come as soon as I can catch up!
• Next, I got a start on reading some spooky stuff for October, like I did last fall, inspired by Tanya at Girlxoxo and her Dangerous Reads Month. For our trip, I read The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes, about a time-traveling serial killer in Chicago. It was a bit gruesome but absolutely gripping. I love time travel plots, so this was right up my alley, with the usual mind-bending aspects!
• Once back home, I switched to teen/YA but stuck with the spooky theme with The Other Side of Dark by Sarah Smith, a creepy ghost story with a large dose of history that I'm enjoying very much so far.
• I started a new audio, Nightmares! by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller, a new release middle-grade novel perfect for the season, where a young boy suspects his new step-mother of being a witch, as his nightmares turn real. I don't usually go for celebrity authors, but this is great so far and very well-written.
• My husband, Ken, started to read Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut for Banned Books Week, but partway through, he realized he'd read it before and decided to switch back to suspense (his favorite genre) for our trip.
• Ken went back to the Plague Wars series by David VanDyke. It's been very confusing because he started with Book 1, Reaper's Run, but then found out there was a Book 0! Then he tried to read Book 2 and discovered there is a book that comes between 1 and 2!  So, I believe he has finished The Eden Plague, Book 0, and is now reading Skull's Shadows, Book 1 1/2.
• Jamie, 20, is reading The Drowning City by Amanda Downum, Necromancer Chronicles Book 1. It must be pretty good because he was home from college yesterday and couldn't set it down!

 Only one post last week, but I managed a few before we left for New Orleans the week before:

Banned Books Week 2014

Review of The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, a classic I read for Banned Books Week

Review of The Agony of Alice, a middle-grade novel by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, also read for Banned Books Week (banned for "honesty about the human body"!)

Summary of Books Read in August (better late than never?)

Review of The Ghost Bride, a novel by Yangsze Choo

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.   

Ken and I in New Orleans at Bayona, celebrating our 25th anniversary