Monday, July 02, 2018

It's Monday 7/2! What Are You Reading?

It's July?? How'd that happen? It feels sudden but on the other hand, we were glad to say good-bye to June. It was a pretty rocky month around here. Here's to smooth sailing the rest of the summer!

Our youngest son is recovering wonderfully from his concussion - much quicker than expected. He says the headache is mostly gone, no nausea or motion sickness, and he's feeling much better. Just a bit of lingering fatigue and spaciness - like when I burned my hand cooking dinner last night and asked him to bring me the aloe. He went upstairs for about 15 min, came down and looked at me blankly when I asked if he'd found the aloe! He said, "See what I mean?" ha ha But overall, he is doing great and recovering faster than expected. He even moved into his new college duplex last week, to join his friends. So, life is returning to normal. In fact, we are suddenly back to an empty nest, as our other son left to stay with his girlfriend for a while.

Lots of catching up last week around the house, with my writing, etc., but we always have time for our books! Here's what we've been reading this past week:
  • I am still reading my second Big Book for my Big Book Summer Challenge: Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (book 2 in the Outlander series). This 700+ page chunkster has been in my plans the past three years for Big Book Summer, so I am glad to finally be reading it. And it is just as compelling and engaging as Outlander was. It's quite different, since much of it takes place in 1744 Paris, rather than the Scottish Highlands, but Claire and Jamie are just as wonderful. Since I also recently finished watching season 1 of the TV show, they now feel like old friends. I am nearing the end now (well, it's all relative with such a long book!).
  • On audio, I am listening to Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, a freebie from SYNC one summer. I thought that since my book reading is focused on Big Book Summer, and I haven't read a classic for my 2018 Classics Challenge in a few months, audio would be a great way to fit one in. I last read this novel in 9th grade and remember enjoying it. I am loving it this time around - I'd forgotten that Dickens had a good sense of humor! My neighbors probably thought I was crazy last week - walking around my neighborhood with my earbuds in, laughing out loud! I may have even snorted once or twice.
  • My husband, Ken, is also reading his second Big Book of the summer and one of my all-time favorites, Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. This was one of my Big Book Summer reads a few years ago, and Ken gamely watched the movie adaptation with me, even though he found it pretty confusing. It's a complicated but engrossing book, with multiple interwoven stories that show how we are all connected across space and time. He didn't have much reading time last week, since he was away at a business conference.
  • Our son, Jamie, 23, finished book 9, Winter's Heart, of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. He has now moved onto book 10, Crossroads of Twilight. It's Big Book Summer all year-round for him; he rarely reads a book with under 400 pages! 
  • And our younger son Craig, 20, makes another rare appearance here: he normally doesn't like to read (I would claim he was swapped at birth but he looks just like me), but the restrictions post-concussion (no screens, no noise, no reading) left him with nothing to do. Like with his last concussion, he turned to the Harry Potter audio books, not only to ease his boredom but also to provide the comfort of favorite old stories and characters. I think he is still listening to The Goblet of Fire, but since he is feeling better and I see the old cassette player & tapes in his room here and not at school with him, I suspect he is back to his non-reading status! 
Last week's blog posts -
Movie Monday: Every Day - based on David Levithan's popular YA novel

TV Tuesday: For the People - a new legal drama from Shonda Rhimes

Teen/YA Review: They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera - a moving, original story

Saturday Snapshot: Family Road Trip Memories - Just a few highlights of our 15+ years of road trips - feeling nostalgic!

And speaking of road trips, one of my essays, The End of the Road, was published in the July/August issue of Your Teen magazine. You can read an online version here.

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.

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

What are you and your family reading this week? 



The 2018 Big Book Summer Reading Challenge is on, and there is still plenty of time to join! It's easy-going, like summer - you only need to read one book with 400 or more pages sometime between now and the end of summer (early September) to participate (though of course, you can read more Big Books, if you want to). It's great motivation to tackle some of the bigger books on your shelves or TBR that usually get overlooked. Check out the details at the link and join the fun!

20 comments:

  1. Wow! You're brave to attempt such a huge book! I hope your son is healed fully soon and that he can have a great summer. I hope you can stop by:

    http://collettaskitchensink.blogspot.com/2018/07/what-im-reading-7218.html

    Colletta

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    1. Thanks! That's what I love about this challenge every summer - it gives me some extra motivation to finally tackle the bigger books on my shelf!

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  2. Glad to see you truckin' along with Dragonfly. As I mentioned last week, having listened to the audio version of book #1 (after reading it), I was astonished at how many words I was mispronouncing in my head when I read. LOL It's a good thing you have the benefit of having watched season #1 on video. I guess I was the same way with Drangonfly since I read it before I listened to book #1 on audio (and before the Starz series was released). Oh well... Happy to see your review of They Both Die At the End -- I was surprised how much I liked this book, despite the sad context. I finished my first two "big books" and will now wait for book #3 to arrive (in the Ember series). Have a wonderful reading week, Sue!

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    1. ha ha - yes, I am hearing the actors' voices in my head now from the TV show, which is kind of nice to get the feel for the Scottish accent especially.

      Enjoy Ember #3 - you are really moving through that series!

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  3. I"m glad your son is getting better. Concussions are nothing to fool around with.
    I'm still working on my nonfictioin big book and hope to be finished with it by the end of this week. We shall see.

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    1. Thanks, Cheriee - yes, we know that from past experience, unfortunately! But this one seemed to be much milder than the last, thank goodness. I look forward to your review!

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  4. I finished my first BIG book of the summer: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, which was really fun.

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    1. Wonderful, Helen! So glad you decided to join the Big Book fun this summer!

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  5. Good to hear the concussion is mending but seems like some lingering things. Something never to be taken lightly. I have the first two seasons of Outlander on DVD and haven't watched yet, loved all the books though. I think its that readers reluctance to see on the screen books loved,

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    1. Yes, they can take a while to fully heal, but he is recovering much more quickly this time, thank goodness. Oh, you'll love the TV series! It actually sticks VERY closely to the novels (at least season 1 did) - I was surprised - and I loved seeing the characters and setting come to life.

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  6. When I read your updates about Dragonfly in Amber, I feel like shouting, "Go, go, go, go!" Kellee and I moved things around and will be posting our Big Books on July 18! See you then. :)

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    1. Yay! So glad to hear you two will be participating! It's such a good feeling to finally tackle these books that have been on my shelf for so long - besides, they've been REALLY good so far this summer!

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    2. We try to every year! Looking forward to sharing our plans on the 18th :)

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  7. I’m glad your son is feeling better. Enjoy your big books! I’ve been reading a lot of those this year. Have a great week!

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. That's great, AJ! You should join the Big Book Summer Challenge!

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  8. When I think of summer, I tend to think of light easy books, not "Big" ones. And yet I'm listening to Moby Dick, so who am I to question? =)

    Happy reading!

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    1. ha ha - Moby Dick definitely counts as a Big Book! One of my book groups takes a break during summer (they both used to), so that's why I started seeing summer as a chance to tackle some longer books. Plus vacations provide more reading time :)

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  9. I've been meaning to read my review copy of Cloud Atlas which I received years ago - hopefully, it finds me from my shelves this year. Hope the rest of your summer goes by nicely!

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