It's Monday 3/12! What Are You Reading?

Bit of a rough week last week, and another one coming up, but it had some good moments, too. Just a lot of medical appointments last week - replacing a broken filling, cutting out a really bad ingrown toenail (sounds trivial but it's really painful) - and this week, I get to repeat both of those on the left side! But I just came from my massage therapist, and that was a good kind of medical appointment - my neck and back problems have calmed down, so that's really good news. In between all that, we got over 10 inches of snow in Nor'Easter #2 last week (which means a snow day here, where we rarely get more than a few inches) - check out my Saturday Snapshot photos. It looks like we will probably get just the edge of Nor'Easter #3, hopefully just a bit of rain here. We had a decent weekend, with our younger son and my father-in-law over for dinner Friday night, and our older son here for breakfast & lunch on Sunday - I can always lure them home with food! And we met our oldest friends for dinner Saturday night, to celebrate their 30th anniversary, at our favorite authentic New Orleans restaurant (hard to come by up here!) - good memories of the years the four of us spent there.

I was feeling out of sorts last week - overwhelmed by all the writing projects I want to tackle and my limited time/energy. But yesterday, I booked a mini getaway for my husband and I next weekend (the location is a surprise for my husband - shhh!), and that perked up my spirits considerably! This time of year always gets to me with a bit of cabin fever - itching to get the camper out again - so getting out of town for a couple of days should help.

Meanwhile, as always, we are all enjoying our books:

• I am still reading my next book group selection, Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood, a Christmas gift from my husband (I suggested it to the group). Since I just read my first-ever Atwood novel last year (The Handmaid's Tale), I am glad for the chance to read more. This is a historical novel, based on a real-life woman in the mid-1800's in Ontario who was sentenced to life in prison for murder. The question of whether she is guilty or innocent is central to the story. I am down to about 60 pages left, and I'm still not sure! Should be a great discussion this week.
• I have been listening to The Freakling, book 1 of the Psi Chronicles by Lana Krumwiede, a middle-grade/teen/YA fantasy dystopian novel that I downloaded free from SYNC last summer. Somehow, I keep forgetting that fantasy isn't one of my favorite genres...but this novel has been interesting and engaging so far, about a society where most people have telekinesis powers and those who don't are sent to a colony, where they have to do horrible things like feed themselves with forks, tie their shoelaces, and pick things up to move them! It's an intriguing concept.
• My husband, Ken, is reading NightSun by Dan Vining, a novel I recently reviewed for Shelf Awareness. It's a detective story set in 2025 that combines mystery, suspense, and dystopia.
• Our son, Jamie, 23, is reading book 6 in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos. He loves this epic fantasy series. He spent all of his Christmas gift cards on books, so he has stacks and stacks of new books waiting! His reading time is limited right now, as he finishes his last semester of college and looks for a job.

Last week's blog posts:

Movie Monday: Red Sparrow - Russian spy thriller starring Jennifer Lawrence

TV Tuesday: 11/22/63 - historical drama about a man who goes back in time to stop JFK's assassination, based on a Stephen King novel - a must-see!

Fiction Review: Maurice by E.M. Forster - a classic about two gay men in early 1900's England

Middle-Grade Review: Swing It, Sunny! by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm - warm, fun, and thoughtful graphic novel

Teen/YA Review: The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah - two teens caught on opposite sides of immigration controversy in Australia

Saturday Snapshot: A Tale of Two March Storms - pics from high winds & heavy snow

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?  

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