It's Monday 4/25! What Are You Reading?

Whew...only noon on Monday, and I am exhausted! What a morning - started with my typical Monday - making breakfast & refilling medication boxes for our college son and I (a convoluted task that takes about 90 minutes each week). Then, my high school son got up with a high fever and severe sore throat and swollen glands. So, I ran him to the doctor's office (yup, strep, as we suspected), then of course, the requisite trip to the drugstore for antibiotics, back home to make him lunch, and oh, yeah, get back to refilling the weekly meds. Whew.

This is a rough re-entry after taking all day Saturday "off" to participate in Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon. It was my first time (and I did not stay up round the clock!), but it was such a wonderful relaxing break to spend a whole day with my husband, mostly reading (with a few TV breaks with him). I could use another day like that now!!

So, here's what we read last week:

• My first task for the Readathon was to finish the last ten pages of The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce, companion novel to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (which I loved!).  It was nice to return to those familiar characters, and it had the same sort of philosophical tone to it, which I loved, though the topic was a bit difficult for me. It takes place entirely in hospice, where Queenie is waiting for Harold.
• Next on Saturday, I started Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz for an online book group, and read over 200 pages in one day! So much fun. This is an odd but very entertaining book - a tense thriller that is filled with humor and irony, where the bad guys are clowns (yup, killer clowns - no joke).
• On audio last week, I finished a middle-grade audiobook, Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins. At first I thought it was just a cute little story, but it turned out to have a lot more depth to it than I first thought. It was very good & will appeal to younger middle-grade readers.
• For Readathon, I started (and finished!) a new middle-grade audio book, The Big Dark by Rodman Philbrick, about a town's experiences in northern New Hampshire when a solar flare knocks out power all over the world. It was absolutely riveting!
• My husband, Ken, finished The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens. When he heard how much we liked it at book group and that it was a mystery/thriller, he was sold. He also enjoyed it very much.
• Over the weekend, Ken started The Crossing by Michael Connelly, a cross-over novel starring both of his famous characters, Harry Bosch and The Lincoln Lawyer (if you are a Bosch fan, check out my review of the Bosch TV show). Ken planned to participate in Readathon with me, but our cable's Watchathon was too much of a temptation, and he ended up watching an entire season of The Walking Dead instead!
• Jamie, 21, is still re-reading the first two books in the A Pattern of Shadow and Light trilogy by Melissa McPhail: Cephrael's Hand and The Dagger of Adendigaeth, in preparation for reading book 3. 
• Craig, 18, is reading To Live by Yu Hua for his World Lit class. His older brother read it when he was in high school, too. He says it's a lot better than Like Water for Chocolate so far! ha ha - that wasn't one of his favorites.

Lots of blog posts last week:

Movie Monday: Ex Machina, a sci fi psychological thriller that we all enjoyed

TV Tuesday: Bosch, a fabulous TV show based on the best-selling book series

Author Talk: Daniel James Brown, author of The Boys on the Boat

YA Memoir Review: Becoming Maria by Sonia Manzano, the actress who played Maria on Sesame Street (I loved it!)

My Summary of Books Read in March, a good reading month!

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon Kick-Off

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon Wrap-Up

What are you and your family reading this week?    

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.