It's Monday 1/29! What Are You Reading?

Whew, another super busy week, but we finally had a quiet weekend at home with no travel, no one sick, and no emergencies, so I was able to catch up a bit with household stuff. I still haven't cleared my e-mails yet, though! But, I am down to about 150 and started going through them from both the bottom and the top of the list (after missing an important one a few weeks ago) - I'm getting there! Now, I have another very hectic week, with something scheduled almost every day, then two busy weekends coming up: my mom and her husband are visiting for Superbowl this weekend, and next weekend is Mardi Gras, when we host an annual gathering with some of our old friends from our New Orleans days (and more).

I'm also making slow but steady progress on blog catch-up. I'm not quite done yet with my 2017 wrap-ups - still need to sum-up my TV reviews - but I am getting there! I also hope to sign up for my 2018 reading challenges before February 1! (no, I haven't done that yet).

No matter how busy we get, we still read every night before bed and enjoy our books. Here's what we've been reading this past week:

• I just finished The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. In high school, I read every Bradbury book in my public library, so I was very excited to be revisiting one of his classics! I really enjoyed it and remembered why I like his writing so much. Besides just being a good and imaginative storyteller, he is SO clever - I had forgotten about his wit and sense of irony, which I found quite amusing in this book.
• Today, I will start a new novel, Speak No Evil, by Uzodinma Iweala, the author of the highly acclaimed Beasts of No Nation. I'm reviewing this one for Shelf Awareness - it's due out on February 6. The blurb says it is about a top student in DC who is headed for Harvard but can't tell his very conservative Nigerian parents that he's gay. Sounds really good.
• I spent most of my audio time last week catching up on podcasts (so many good ones!), but now I have just started a new audiobook, The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah, a teen/YA novel set in Australia about a boy named Michael whose parents are strongly anti-immigration. Then he meets Mina, a new girl in school who is a Muslim refugee from Afghanistan, and Michael must decide what side he is on. I've just started it, but it's already engaging, and I was surprised to realize that Australia is dealing with these same issues that we are in the U.S.!
• Drumroll, please....My husband, Ken, finished reading a birthday gift from our son: Cephrael's Hand by Melissa McPhail, book 1 in A Pattern of Shadow and Light series, which was 780 pages long! Woohoo! He enjoyed it but said he might wait a bit before jumping into the next chunkster.
• Now, Ken is reading a book I gave him for Christmas, The Last One by Alexandra Oliva. It's about 12 people on a reality show like Survivior, who are out in the wilderness when a real-life disaster hits. They have no idea what's happening in the outside world, and when they see some evidence of the devastation, they assume it's a part of the show. Doesn't that sound like an amazing premise? He's enjoying it so far.
• Our son, Jamie, 23, finished reading book 3, Memories of Ice, from a favorite fantasy series, The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson. He enjoyed books 1 and 2 a while back and says he has books 4, 5, and 6 waiting at his apartment, thanks to his favorite local used bookstore. This one was 900+ pages! I don't recall what book he is reading now, but it is another novel that is part of an epic fantasy series he enjoys (another big one with a bunch of books he has waiting!).

A few blog posts squeezed into a busy week:

Movie Monday: Taking Lives - a creepy thriller

2017 Reading Challenges Wrap-Up - I did well on my challenges last year!

Best Books Read in 2017 - my annual summary of what I read last year and my top picks

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.


What are you and your family reading this week?  

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

We did get outside for a hike on a beautiful Saturday this weekend, but I haven't had the time to participate in Saturday Snapshot in weeks!

Blue skies and sunshine this weekend!