It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Not much time for books or blogging last week. Our youngest son graduated from high school on Saturday, we had 6 family members staying with us for the weekend, and we hosted a party Saturday evening with 50 guests! So, my week was spent preparing for all of that revelry. It was a great weekend (though exhausting). Yesterday, everyone left one by one - family back to Rochester, oldest son off on a cruise with his friends, youngest son off to the beach with his friends (a Delaware tradition for grads), Mom to the train station.

This morning, I am enjoying the quiet solitude (can hear the birds singing outside) and starting to resume normal life. I have a lot of catch-up work to do!

Here's what we read last week - when we found a spare moment!

• I finished - and really enjoyed - A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, an intricate, interwoven story about a Japanese teenager and a woman writer in British Columbia (I love stories about connections). 
• I also finished Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi. I was inspired to read this wonderful memoir sequel by two things: my son's World Lit class just read Persepolis (which I read and loved last year), and I joined Emma Watson's feminist book group on Goodreads, Our Shared Shelf (oh, yeah, Emma and I are best buds now), and her choice for June is Persepolis, so I wanted to read the second volume. It was just as good - and fascinating - as the first. This second volume focused on Marji's coming-of-age, her adolescence, and moving into adulthood.
• Now, I am reading my first Big Book of the Summer! I started The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater, the fourth and final book in her The Raven Cycle series, which I have been wanting to get to since it was released in April. It is nice to be back among Blue, Gansey, and the rest of the group.
• I finished listening to The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos on audio, a teen/YA novel with a unique plot. The 17-year old main character is looking for her mother, who left when she was very young, and her father, who just recently disappeared. Her dad writes medical mystery novels, so she is using what she's learned from his novels to track down these two very personal mysteries of her own. It was good - both a mystery and an intricate look at relationships and family. 
• My husband, Ken, just finished The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, which I gave him for Christmas. We have enjoyed the first few episodes of the TV adaptation on Amazon Prime, so I thought he'd like the novel. He says it's completely different from the TV show. I haven't heard his final thoughts on the book yet since I was already asleep when he finished it last night!
• Jamie, 21, finished 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 and then finished book 3, Paths of Air. He is now on break from college for the next 5 weeks and planning to read a LOT! He loaded his phone up with a bunch of Kindle books before he left on a Caribbean cruise yesterday, but I don't know which ones he chose.
• Craig, 18, was the high school graduate this weekend, and I can assure you that he will not read anything at all until he starts college in the fall!

No blog posts last week, other than my Monday post. I will be catching up this week, so check back!

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.

Join the Big Book Summer Reading Challenge! Just click the link to read the rules - super-easy for summer! You only need to read one "big book" (400 pages or more) to participate. Join the fun & sign up today!