It's Monday 8/3! What Are You Reading?

Wow, it has been a month since I have been home long enough to write a Monday post. We are back home now and trying to get back into our normal routines, and that includes my blogging routines! We did a LOT of reading this past month, so I will update you here (and try to keep it short!):

• I finished One Thousand White Women: the Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus, a historic novel I have been wanting to read for years and my third Big Book of the Summer. I loved this riveting, action-packed, and emotional novel.
• Next, I read UnDivided by Neal Schusterman, the fourth and final book in his amazing YA Unwind dystology (yup, they created a new word just for him!) and my fourth Big Book of the Summer. My husband, son, and I have all loved this series, and it was wrapped up beautifully, with plenty of surprises in this last novel. If you like dystopian stories, you must read this series - it is filled with action and suspense but is also very thought-provoking.
• I also read The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. Am I the last one on earth to read this? I enjoyed it very much - the fast-paced suspense was just what I needed last month to escape. By the end of this novel, you have suspected every single character of horrible things. It was a page-turner.
• Now I am about halfway through Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, which will be my fifth Big Book of the Summer! Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors, and I am enjoying this novel very much so far - it's a perfect summer read, set in the hills of Virginia.
• I finished listening to Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai, a middle-grade audio book about a Vietnamese-American girl who is an all-American Southern California girl. She accompanies her grandmother on a trip to visit her home village in Vietnam and experiences some serious culture shock! It was excellent - a wonderful, moving novel and very good on audio especially.
• During our travels, my husband and I started listening to Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, a classic that I downloaded this summer free from SYNC. I'd been wanting to read this novel for a long time. It's good so far (we are about halfway), though it was a bit slow getting started. We'd heard it was suspenseful, chilling, and haunting, but it seems to be building much more slowly than modern novels do. Now we just need to find some time alone together to finish it! Hopefully, there will be no more long car rides in August.
• On my own, I have started another audiobook, Crows and Cards by Joseph Helgerson, a another free download from SYNC this summer. It is a middle-grade audio book set in 1849 about a twelve-year old boy who gets involved with riverboat gamblers. It's good so far.
• My husband, Ken, finished Seeker by Jack McDevitt, a book I gave him for Father's Day, a science fiction novel by a multiple Nebula Award nominee. He enjoyed it and said the classic sci fi novel was a nice change from the thrillers he usually reads.
• Next, Ken read another Father's Day book from me, Black Fridays by Michael Sears, which was nominated for an Edgar Award for Best First Novel. It's a mystery involving the financial industry and introduces a new character, Jason Stafford. He liked this one, too (I did well with Father's Day gifts this year!).
• Now, Ken is reading The Third Option by Vince Flynn. I think I may have gotten this suspense novel in last summer's reading program at our local library (we are both raking in the free books again this summer!)
• Jamie, 20, finished Winterbirth, book one in The Godless World series by Brian Ruckley, a fantasy series of the type that he loves. He said it was OK but didn't have as much action as he likes.
• Now, Jamie is reading The Barrow by Mark Smylie, another epic fantasy novel that he's enjoying so far.

Not too many blog posts last month because I was offline most of the time, but here are a few that I managed, mostly from this past week after we returned home:

Review of Revolution by Deborah Wiles, a middle-grade novel that everyone of all ages should read!

Review of The Baby-sitter's Club: Kristy's Great Idea by Ann B. Martin and Raina Telgemeier, a graphic novel adaptation of the popular series.

Summary of Books Read in June (yes, finally!)

Saturday Snapshot 7/18 - Photos of waterfalls, creeks, and gorges in upstate NY

Saturday Snapshot 7/25 - Photos from an Adirondack trip, Part 1

Saturday Snapshot 8/1 - Photos from an Adirondack trip, Part2

Weekend Cooking 8/2 - 3 Easy, Tasty Summer Meals

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.     

There is still one full month left of summer, so you still have time to join the Big Book Summer Challenge and join the fun! You only need to read 1 book (though you can read more if you want) longer than 400 pages to participate. And this year, for the first time, there'll be a Big Book Giveaway at the end of the summer for participants!