It's Monday 4/2! What Are You Reading?

It's finally April!! Hurray! Of course, we had a mix of rain/snow last night, but at least nothing stuck to the ground this time. Our spring blooms are already soooo late, though some sun this weekend finally got our forsythia popping open - that's one of my favorite signs of spring. I cut some branches for our Easter table yesterday. We had a very busy but nice weekend, cooking and preparing for Easter. Our sons got back to campus from spring break in NC Outer Banks Saturday night, and we got to see them both yesterday. Our older son came home with bronchitis, so he spent the day here, resting, and it was great to spend some time with him. His brother took over his dinner shift at work for him, so we were still missing one for Easter, but we enjoyed a huge feast with my father-in-law here, too. My family is Ukrainian, so I still make (and buy) all the traditional foods for Easter dinner, even if it's just four of us, like it was yesterday. Everyone took home plenty of leftovers, and tonight my husband and I get to enjoy all that good food again without all the work!

Here's what we've all been reading this past week:

• I finished a book for a Shelf Awareness review and author interview and for Booktopia: My Ex-Life by Stephen McCauley. It's about a gay man who moves in with his ex-wife in order to help her get her life together and help her daughter apply to colleges. It was wonderful - insightful and moving but also laugh-out-loud funny. I interviewed the author last week and thoroughly enjoyed talking to him about the novel and his writing career. Now, I want to go back and read some of his earlier novels (three of which were made into movies).
• Now, I am reading another novel in preparation for Booktopia in May: The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin. It starts with four young siblings in 1969 who visit a fortune teller who tells them each the date they will die. The rest of the novel is in four sections, each following one of the siblings. It's a bit dark, since you know each section will end with a character dying! But it's also engrossing and well-written, and I'm enjoying it.
• I finished listening to Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy, a YA novel I have wanted to read since its release about a year ago. It was worth waiting for! I loved this story of a teen girl in coastal Mississippi who is something of an outsider in her town and school. She's over 6 feet tall, is openly gay, and lives in a trailer. It was excellent - endearing, compelling, and real-feeling - and I loved Ramona!
• I just downloaded a new audio, She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper, that I plan to start today. It's a 2017 release that sounds really good - a novel about an 11-year old girl who must go on the run with her scary ex-convict father because a gang from prison is intent on killing them both. I'm looking forward to it.
• My husband, Ken, finished The Late Show by Michael Connelly, one of the books I gave him for Christmas. It's the start of a new series by Connelly (author of the Harry Bosch series) featuring a young female detective named Renee Ballard. He enjoyed it and moved it to my side of our TBR bookcase (yes, an entire bookcase!), telling me I'll like it, too.
•  Now, Ken has gone back to his sci fi classic series re-read, Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov, which was the second book published in the Foundation series in 1952. He enjoyed Foundation and is looking forward to re-reading the rest of the books in the series.
• Our son, Jamie, 23, finished book 6 in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos and has moved onto book 7, A Crown of Swords. He loves this epic fantasy series. Of course, I included a new book in his Easter basket (and his dad's, too!).

Blog posts last week - I got too busy!

Middle-Grade Review: Freakling by Lana Krumwiede - an intriguing dystopian fantasy

Sign Up Now for Booktopia 2018! - join the fun and I'll see you in Vermont in May!

Saturday Snapshot & Weekend Cooking: Restaurants in Annapolis - amazing food

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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Easter Dinner