I love Monday mornings, with a quiet house all to myself and a new week ahead. It's like a mini fresh start every 7 days. My to-do list is overflowing, as always, but I am ready to tackle a new week!
My chronic illness has been flaring up the past two weeks, so I've had a lot of ups and downs lately, but I think I am on my way back now. At least I've had plenty of reading time:
- I finished A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra for my neighborhood book group that meets this week and was absolutely blown away. It is an amazing novel, powerful and moving, and I cried (in a good way) as I read the last page.
- I also finished listening to teen/YA novel I Was Here by Gayle Forman, about a teen girl named Cody who is trying to cope with the sudden and unexpected suicide of her best friend. It was very good - compelling and on such an important topic.
- Now, I am reading Picture Perfect, an older novel by Jodi Picoult. My aunt picked it for our online family book group, and I'd never read it before. It's very good so far, as are all of Picoult's novels!
- I am now listening to a new teen/YA novel, The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall, a thriller. I've just started it, and it already has plenty of suspense.
- My husband, Ken, finished reading Undivided by Neal Schusterman, the fourth and final book in the Unwind Dystology (when he couldn't wrap up the story in 3 books, they created a new term for it!). This is one of our all-time favorite series in our household, and we have been eagerly waiting to read the finale. I'm next!
- Ken picked up on our son's recent zombie kick (see below) and read Mountain Man by Keith C. Blackmore on his Kindle.
- Ken is now reading Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard, book 4 in the Raylan Givens series, which is the basis for the TV show Justified. Ken loves the TV show, and has been enjoying the books, too.
- Jamie, 20, has been on a zombie kick in honor of The Walking Dead coming back to TV recently. He has been working his way through the 10 books of the Dead series by T.W. Brown.
Review of Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, an excellent, moving graphic memoir
Review of Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern, a teen/YA audiobook about love, friendship & disabilities (also excellent)
Saturday Snapshot, with a couple of winter pics, including a gorgeous sunset
Weekend Cooking post, with a crowd-pleasing recipe I tried this weekend
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.
I'm hearing a lot of positives on I Was Here and The Conspiracy of Us.
ReplyDeleteIs the zombie trend over yet? I have a British Charlie Higson that a student loaned me, but it's bound to give me nightmares, so I don't want to read it!
ReplyDeleteha ha - I'm not much into zombies either, but my son and husband (and even my 89-year old father-in-law!) are hooked!
DeleteI am glad you liked the rest of I Was Here! I was excited to see your final review. I hope you start to feel better. I will be thinking of you.
ReplyDeleteI will try to review it in the next week, Ricki. I did enjoy it.
DeleteYes to A Constellation of Vital Phenomena! I loved that book so much and I can't wait to see what else Marra will write.
ReplyDeleteMe, too, Lindsey! I'm working on my review now - I have others on my to-do list, but I was so excited about this novel, I wanted to write about it right away!
DeleteElmore Leonard is a blast from the past for me. I remember when I read everything he wrote. Is he still alive and writing? I was already interested in reading Review of Fun Home but I figured out that it is the Alison Bechdel who came up with the Bechdel test for movies. I really want to read this book now!
ReplyDeleteI think Elmore Leonard might have died just recently in the past year or two.
DeleteI have heard others mention the Bechdel test but I have no idea what it is! Will have to look that up.
Oh! A lot of familiar books!
ReplyDeleteI just recently read I Was Here by Gayle Foreman. The romance didn't work for me, but otherwise I liked it.
The Undivided series is terrific! It made me a fan of Neal Shusterman. I actually got to meet him at a literacy festival.
My husband is into zombies. He devours the Walking Dead show. A couple of years ago, he also discovered the Higson books.
We are huge Schusterman fans at our house, Allison! I agree on I Was Here - I was far less interested in the romance than in the main plot of the novel.
DeleteOur public library gave my book club free movie tickets for Gayle Forman's If I stay - I'm looking forward to reading the book to compare it to the movie as well as her other novels, which are pretty much getting good reviews. Enjoy your books! :)
ReplyDeleteThis was my first Gayle Forman novel, Myra - I will have to check out some of her others!
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