It's Monday 3/25! What Are You Reading?

Last week was one of those weeks that didn't turn out quite as planned. In my writing life, I had an article rejected and found out that a regular writing gig is about to disappear. Big impact for me - I've been writing for them almost monthly for four years. On the personal side, we got the sad news that my husband's first cousin died of a heart attack in Oklahoma. He was recovering from a previous heart attack but had been discharged to rehab and seemed to be doing well, so this was a surprise. Now, we have everything on hold at home - including vacation plans - waiting to hear when the memorial service will be scheduled.

There were good parts of the week, too. We had a wonderful dinner with old friends Saturday night, including some we hadn't seen in about 20 years! We all used to work together, so it was a lot of fun to reconnect and catch up. And yesterday, my younger son and my father-in-law (with a little convincing!) came over for a nice Sunday family dinner. It was good to see them both and get together. Oh, and the big news is that last week we booked a trip to St. John (U.S. Virgin Islands) for Thanksgiving week with our two sons, who are both in their early 20's so vacations together are rare now. This fall is our 30th anniversary, and we wanted to celebrate by taking them somewhere special. St. John has long been at the top of my must-visit list since most of the island is a National Park. We got decent airfares, had 100,000 frequent flyer points to help offset the cost, and booked an awesome Airbnb house overlooking the water - can't wait!

And, of course, books are always a good part of every week! Here's what we've been reading this week:

• I finished My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie. You may recall that I dreaded reading the 600-page novel, America's First Daughter, by the same authors last year but ended up loving it, and I had the same experience with this one! I thought I wasn't in the mood for lengthy historical fiction, but once again, these remarkable authors plunged me into the life of a woman connected to a Revolutionary hero, and I was captivated through every page. Eliza Hamilton lived a fascinating life, and I learned so much about U.S. history (driving my husband crazy with interesting facts while he's trying to read). This novel, in particular, is striking for how little things have changed, from the founding of our country to the challenges we are facing today - we are still arguing over the exact same issues, which is mind-blowing. If you haven't yet read either of these novels, you should! They are both perfect picks for my Big Book Summer Challenge, coming up in two months.
• Now, I am reading A Good Enough Mother by Bev Thomas, my next review book for Shelf Awareness. It's a psychological thriller about a therapist who works with trauma patients. Her own young adult son disappeared (the details of that have not yet been revealed), and a patient comes to her who reminds her of her son and brings up all sorts of difficult feelings. I'm about halfway and enjoying it so far - I can tell there are some secrets and surprises in store.  
• I am still slowly making my way through (almost finished!) a very unique illustrated book, Tales from the Inner City by Shaun Tan. Tan is known for his amazing illustrations, graphic novels, illustrated short stories, and even a short film. This unusual book is a collection of short fantasy stories about animals in an urban environment. Some stories are just a few lines long and others are 5 or more pages, each with at least one huge, colorful, two-page painting. They are all very weird and imaginative, about worlds that are different than ours, with a focus on the connections between animals and humans. It's almost impossible to describe briefly, but I am enjoying it.
• On audio, I am listening to The Widows by Jess Montgomery, which was recommended by the Book Cougars podcast (they also interviewed the author - episode 68). I highly recommend their podcast - they are friends of mine from Booktopia, and I always look forward to a new episode! Set in 1924, The Widows is inspired by the true story of Ohio's first female sheriff and tells the fictional story of two widows who are brought together by unexpected circumstances and find themselves at odds with the male leadership and corruption in their communities. It's very good so far, and I'm looking for excuses to plug in my earbuds and listen!
• My husband, Ken, is reading Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson, a very good psychological thriller about a woman who discovers she is living next door to a killer - and he knows that she knows. It's good tense suspense, and he's enjoying it. I reviewed it for Shelf Awareness and will post a link as soon as my review is published. He is very close to the end and told me last night that he thinks he figured out the twist! We'll see...
•  Our son, Jamie, 24, wants to read book 4, Kingdom Blades, of the series A Pattern of Shadow and Light by Melissa McPhail, a favorite series of his. But, being him, he decided to first re-read the first 3 books in the series. So, he finished book 1, Cephrael's Hand, and is now reading book 2, The Dagger of Adendigaeth. He says he's enjoying it and is glad he decided to re-read because he's remembering details he'd forgotten...and the series is sooo good!

Blog posts from last week:

Movie Monday: The Edge of Seventeen - sweet, funny coming-of-age story with a great cast

TV Tuesday: The Passage - outstanding TV show based on one of our favorite book trilogies!

Fiction Review: Tangerine by Christine Mangan - dark, captivating story set in 1950's Morocco

Weekend Cooking & Saturday Snapshot: Restaurants in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

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? 

Happy Spring! A friend got me out for a hike on the first day of spring last week.