It's Monday 6/10! What Are You Reading?

Last week was characterized by huge amounts of stress and pressure during the week and then a very nice weekend! We've been struggling with several family crises with our son's health the past few weeks and we had to buy a new-to-us SUV in order to manage our weekend trip to see family - our old one just wasn't going to make one more trip! Our 2003 Honda Pilot had 217,000 miles on it, and we got to the point where the repairs needed outweighed its value by far. It was a scramble last week to get everything done in time, but we managed to buy a 2017 Nissan Pathfinder and get all the paperwork together so we could take it to Rochester, NY, (my hometown) for a family-filled weekend. The trip was just what we needed! We are all feeling more relaxed and less stressed, we had a wonderful time with a couple of different branches of the family, and by Sunday, our son was feeling much better. And now, I feel ready to face a new week, with a fresh outlook (unlike last week!).

As always, our books provide comfort in the hard times and fun in the happy times! Here's what we've all been reading this week:

No surprise that I am still reading my first Big Book of the Summer! I kicked things off with a doozy - a 959-page chunkster - Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. This is a readalong for the Book Cougars podcast for June, plus a classic (I am behind on my Classics Challenge), and from my own shelves, so it counts for several challenges. I've never read the novel and saw the movie many decades ago, and I am enjoying it so far. I'm surprised (though I shouldn't be) by how wonderful and well-written it is. I'm completely engrossed in the story, in both the personal dramas as well as the detailed perspectives of the Southerners during the Civil War and what that time period and culture was like. I'm almost halfway now and still looking forward to reading it every evening! The Yankees have just taken Atlanta (and therefore won the war), and the story has been wholly engrossing so far.


On audio, I am still listening to another Big Book, Harry's Trees by Jon Cohen, a novel I've wanted to read ever since it was released last year. It's two intersecting stories about Harry, a man who works for the Forest Service whose wife dies suddenly, and Amanda, a woman who lives in a nearby rural area whose husband also died unexpectedly. Harry goes to the woods and ends up meeting Amanda and her daughter. I am loving it so far. It's a story about healing...and trees! It's intriguing, compelling, heartfelt, and maybe even a bit magical - and set in the forest, so what's not to like?

My husband, Ken, is reading his second Big Book of the summer, The President Is Missing by James Patterson and Bill Clinton, a recent political thriller that's gotten a lot of press. The fast-paced novel is set over the course of three days and deals with cyber-terrorism and espionage of such a magnitude that the whole nation is at risk. Even the President himself is a suspect, as the investigators try to root out a traitor in the cabinet. Word is that Clinton's inside knowledge of the workings of the White House and government make this political thriller extra-chilling and suspenseful. Ken is enjoying it so far, and my stepmom, who we stayed with this weekend, also enjoyed it.

Our son, Jamie, 24, finished a novel that we put in his Easter basket, The Wolf, by Leo Carew, book 1 in the Under the Northern Sky series. I picked it out for him at an awesome indie bookstore at the beach in Delaware, Browseabout Books, because the epic fantasy sounded right up his alley. He loved it and wants to read more in the series (book 2, The Spider, will be released on July 30, just in time for his birthday!). Jamie thinks my Big Book Summer Challenge is hilarious because almost everything he reads (including this one) counts as a Big Book!

And here's the exception to that...Jamie just started a new series, The Runes of Issalia, by Jeffrey L. Kohanek, and each book is normal-sized at about 300-ish pages - but he is reading the whole series at once since the boxed set was on sale for the Kindle. He has already finished (the lucky boy can read in the car!) book 1, The Buried Symbol: A Discovery of Magic, and is now reading book 2, The Emblem Throne: A Quest of Magic. He's enjoying the series so far.





Blog posts last week:

Movie Monday: Like Father - warm, funny, delightful movie about an estranged father and daughter who reconnect

TV Tuesday: Dead to Me - suspenseful, darkly comic, twisty story of female friendship

Fiction Review: Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor - unusual coming-of-age story that is warm, tender, and thought-provoking

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?

Remember to sign up for the Big Book Summer Challenge! It's easy-going, like summer - you only have to read one book of 400 or more pages between now and September (though you can, of course, read more!) It's lots of fun and a great way to add extra enjoyment to your summer! All the details are at the link - you can sign up there if you have a blog or, if not, just leave a comment on that page or sign up at the Goodreads group linked from that page. Join the fun!