It's Monday 11/5! What Are You Reading?

Another dark and rainy day here, and I am STILL not feeling well - going on four weeks now and really getting sick of it! Reminding me of the early days of my immune disorder, but these kind of lengthy "crashes" are rare now, with all the treatments I have found. Supposed to be visiting my mom this week, for a long-planned trip and going to the theater, so fingers crossed things improve...fast.

Reading has been a great distraction this past week, as I finished up my dark & creepy books for the RIP Challenge and started Nonfiction November! That's quite a shift, but I am enjoying it so far. Here's what we've all been reading this week:

• I finished Fifty Mice by Daniel Pyne, a thriller set on Catalina Island in California. A man is forcibly brought into the Witness Protection Program but has no idea what he is supposed to know or have seen. It's an intriguing concept and a gripping story with lots of twists and turns and a good sense of humor, too. I really enjoyed it - you can read my review at the link.
• I also finished a middle-grade graphic novel, The Unsinkable Walker Bean by Aaron Renier. It's an engaging, colorful, spooky fantasy featuring pirates and sea creatures so was also a good fit for the RIP Challenge.
• Shifting gears to nonfiction, I quickly blew through two graphic memoirs/nonfiction that I received for review for Shelf Awareness. First, I read the memoir Flawed by Andrea Dorfman, a sweet story about how the author came to accept herself - and her flaws - while falling in love with a plastic surgeon. In an interesting twist, this story was first a film and was then turned into a book.
• My next graphic nonfiction book was of a totally different type: Escaping Wars and Waves by Olivier Kugler, a moving and powerful reporting from 5 different refugee camps and relocation spots for Syrian refugees. The author traveled to all of these places and interviewed people, and the book includes both his interviews, with verbatim quotes from Syrian refugees, as well as his life-like drawings of the people and places, based on photos he took at the time. The result is a haunting and heartbreaking up-close picture of the plight of Syrian refugees all over the world.
• By November 2, I was already onto my third nonfiction book. Sick days mean more reading time. I started Seven: In the Lane of Hope, an inspirational memoir written by Michael J. Marini, who is my massage therapist! He and I often talk about writing while he is working the knots out of my back and shoulders, and I was thrilled to hear his book had just been published. It's about his remarkable family of 13 and particularly his seven sisters. Poignant, moving, and funny, I'm really enjoying it so far - about halfway through.
•  On audio, I just this morning finished How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather (yes, of those Mathers). This teen/YA novel combines modern teen problems of starting at a new school and bullying with history of the Salem Witch Trials. Samantha Mather, descended from the infamous Cotton Mather, moves to Salem and discovers that history is still entirely relevant to the people in town, as teen descendants of the original witches hung in Salem make life a nightmare for her. This one included witches and a ghost, so it was a perfect way to end October!
• As soon as I reload my iPod today, I will be starting the audio book Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. My son introduced me to both Noah's TV show and his stand-up comedy, so I've been wanting to read this one and have heard the audio, read by the author, is excellent. My favorite book podcast, Book Cougars, is doing a readalong this month, so I got a copy from my library - just in time for Nonfiction November! 
• My husband, Ken, is still reading one of his birthday gifts from me, The Outsider by Stephen King. It's a suspenseful thriller that he's been looking forward to, and last night, he explained that since it is King, it's not just a thriller but has an element of the supernatural in it, too. Sounds great!
• Still not sure what Jamie, our 24-year old son, is reading now, after finishing book 3 in the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer, but I will ask him when he comes home for lunch today. His girlfriend has a concussion and is on "brain rest" (something we know a lot about here), so I suspect he's been keeping her company with audiobooks.

Last week's blog posts:

Movie Monday: A Star Is Born - powerful story & music starring Bradley Cooper & Lady Gaga

TV Tuesday: You - a romance with a dark underbelly - fun!

Fall Books & Movies - 2 of my recent Shelf Awareness columns, on fall reading and movie adaptations

Middle-Grade Review: The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo by Drew Weing - I loved this fun graphic novel!

Fiction Review: Fifty Mice by Daniel Pyne - twisty thriller about Witness Protection

Nonfiction November - my plans for the upcoming nonfiction month

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?