Crimes Against a Book Club, a novel by Kathy Cooperman, was an unusual choice for my own book group, which usually chooses meaty, issue-driven novels or nonfiction, but we all agreed it was an entertaining and well-written novel with more depth than we expected and plenty of laughs.
Annie and Sarah are very different in some ways but have been best friends since their college days at Harvard. Tall, gorgeous Sarah went onto law school and now works 80 hours a week in a high-powered law firm, while Annie got her PhD in chemistry. She loved working as a research chemist but quit to be a stay-at-home mom to her three young children, which has left her a bit overweight and more than a little frazzled. Her life goes from stressful to crisis when she finds out that her son has autism and needs expensive therapies immediately in order to help him while his brain is still developing. Though Sarah's life looks glamorous from the outside, she is in her own kind of crisis, desperate to get pregnant but running out of options. She and her husband are now looking at IVF, but it's very expensive, and Sarah's high-stress job is not conducive to being in the best shape in which to get pregnant. Annie recently joined a book group, in an effort to meet people, in La Jolla, a suburb of San Diego (and not where Annie lives!) that is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the country. She doesn't fit in with this group of women who are obsessed with their looks and their status, but they give her an idea. She and Sarah decide to launch a cosmetics business to earn the money they each need for their families. Annie will concoct a skin cream formula from cheap ingredients, and beautiful Sarah will hand-sell the cream to the wealthy ladies of La Jolla, under the guise of a private-label, exclusive brand from France, for $2000 a jar. The only problem is that Annie ends up adding a last-minute secret ingredient to the cream that makes it very popular but could also get them in a lot of trouble.
Seems like an amusing set-up, right? And it is, with plenty of humor right from the start, as Annie and Sarah set up their fake business and begin selling the women of La Jolla their expensive face cream. What surprised our group, who were mostly expecting a shallow story, was that the author provides some depth to the characters, including the seemingly superficial wealthy women. As the story moves forward, the stakes rise for Sarah, who begins to actually like some of the women she's conning, and for Annie, who is having trouble re-stocking her secret ingredient. As I mentioned, this is not our typical sort of choice for this book group, but everyone ended up enjoying it more than they expected to. It's a smart, funny, engaging story with a great sense of humor about friendship and aging.
320 pages, Lake Union Publishing
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these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help
offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.
I have a stack of slightly spooky graphic novels to read for my fall 2019 RIP XIV Reading Challenge, and the first one I read was This Was Our Pact, a middle-grade graphic novel by Ryan Andrews. This sweet and original story about friendship has just the right amount of mild spookiness and magic for middle-grade readers to enjoy.
As part of its Fall Equinox Festival, a town celebrates with a fun tradition of sending a bunch of lit paper lanterns down the river. An old song says that the lanterns follow the river until they eventually journey into the night sky to become stars. Every year, a group of boys from town gets into the spirit of the event by jumping on their bikes and following the lanterns downriver (and downhill), but they always turn back at the same place, for a long trek back uphill to their warm homes. This year, the boys make a two-part pact: 1 - No One Turns For Home and 2 - No One Looks Back. One of the boys, Ben, rides alongside four friends who joined in the pact. Another boy, Nathaniel, is well behind the others but keeps calling for them to wait for him. Nathaniel is teased and taunted by the other boys (and they don't wait for him). Ben feels bad because they used to be friends when they were younger, but he doesn't stand up for Nathaniel, for fear of the other boys turning on him, and that makes him feel even worse. Eventually, though, Ben and Nathaniel are the only ones left on this special quest, as the other boys all give up and ride home. Reluctantly, Ben teams up with Nathaniel, still feeling guilty, but Nathaniel is the forgiving sort. Unexpectedly, the two boys encounter all kinds of surprises on their journey that night, including many things they never even dreamed of.
Sample pages from This Was Our Pact
This is a warm, sweet story of friendship and commitment, with a nice dose of magic and fantasy, in the form of a friendly talking bear, an eccentric sorceress named Madam Majestic, and many other unexpected things the boys encounter. Andrews fills his story with plenty of imagination and creativity, illustrated with engaging, often single-colored drawings (mostly blue to reflect the dark night but with other colors to call out certain scenes). There is a bit of suspense and slight spookiness, without ever being scary, as the pair of boys overcome one obstacle after another in their quest to follow the lanterns. Their pact holds them together, and Ben remembers why they used to be friends, with an exciting and satisfying ending that leaves the reader smiling.
330 pages, First Second
Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in
return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced
by my relationship with the publisher or author.
Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from
these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help
offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.
You can purchase This Was Our Pact from an independent
bookstore, either locally or online, here:
Yay!
It's officially fall! That means cooler weather (thank goodness), jeans
and sweatshirts, beautiful foliage, and...a new TV season! Even though
streaming has made new shows (and old favorites) available all year
round now, my husband and I still enjoy a bunch of shows on network TV
(watched On Demand, according to our schedule) as well as on
streaming. This is the time of year when the networks begin to premier
their new shows, being back more seasons of old favorites, and yes, the
streaming services do, too.
Network Old Favorites Returning -
First,
some of our old favorites on network TV that we are looking forward to
this fall, in order of release date (my reviews, with trailers, are at
the links):
The Resident
- We really like the cast of this medical show, though in the first
season, it seemed like all of the older doctors were evil...not just
bad, but pure evil. They've tamped that down a bit now (only one of the
attendings turned out to be truly evil), we enjoyed season 2, and we are
looking forward to season 3, starting September 24 (tonight!).
New Amsterdam
- Yes, another medical show! Somehow we always get hooked on them. This
one just started last year, with Ryan Eggold (an actor we liked on The Blacklist)
as Medical Director Dr. Max Goodman, who is battling cancer while
trying to fight against the medical bureaucracy and put patients first.
The entire cast is great, and it's nice to see the good guys win. It
also starts tonight, September 24.
Grey's Anatomy
- Why do all the medical shows start the same week?? No idea, but
Grey's is, of course, the gold standard in this category. My husband
says he is starting to get sick of it, but I'm not! Never. And he's a
good enough sport to continue watching it with me. I still love it and
look forward to it every week. It's 16th (count 'em!) season kicks also
kicks off this week, on its usual night, Thursday, September 26.
The Rookie
- This newcomer turned out to be one of our favorite shows last year!
Nathan Fillion stars as John Nolan, the oldest rookie cop in LAPD's
newest class. As always, he brings his considerable charms to this role,
but what we like best is the way this action-packed, suspenseful police
show also blends human stories and humor into its mix. Its second
season starts next Sunday, September 29, and we will be watching it On
Demand Monday!
The Blacklist
- We have stuck with this show through six seasons of twists and turns,
main characters' deaths, and more. This unique show has an elite FBI
black ops group working with renowned (and Most Wanted) criminal Raymond
Reddington, played masterfully by James Spader (he's come a long way
from the pirate outfit in Fast Times at Ridgemont High). We still enjoy this fast-paced thriller, and its seventh season begins on Friday. October 4.
Madam Secretary - I think this is another one my husband is getting a little bit tired of, but he keeps watching it with me...and I still love
it! Tea Leoni is fantastic as Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord, with
Tim Daly by her side as her husband, religious expert, and sometime CIA
employee. Each episode, Elizabeth solves some unsolvable and complex
international problem with wisdom and compassion. Ahhh...if only she and
Keifer Sutherland's President Tom Kirkman on Designated Survivor were our leaders in real life! A girl can dream. Its sixth season premiers on Sunday, October 6.
I will also hopefully have the time to watch This Is Us and A Million Little Things on my own...though my TV alone time is severely limited these days.
New Network Shows I Want to Try -
Bluff City Law
- This new legal show on NBC premiered last night on September 23 (my
husband is away, so I have to wait!). Jimmy Smits returns to the law (he
starred on L.A. Law for 6 years) in this father-daughter legal practice.
All Rise
- Another legal show, premiering on the same day. Seriously, what is up
with the confluence of medical and legal show premiers?? Anyway, this
one looks intriguing, about a newly appointed judge who wants to make a
difference. I'm a bit more interested in this one than the previous one,
but we'll see. Also started Monday, September 23.
Emergence
- Whew. For a while, I didn't see any new sci fi or paranormal thriller
on the docket for this season, but this one looks right up our alley! I
can already see similarities to The Crossing and Manifest (which returns for a second season this winter). It premiers tonight, September 24.
Stumptown - The new detective show starring Cobie Smulders (of How I Met Your Mother fame) as a P.I. has been described as similar to the classic The Rockford Files. I like the lead actress and loved the
trailer - action, suspense, great sense of humor, and an awesome
soundtrack! It premiers Wednesday, September 25. Check out this
hilarious trailer:
Evil
- And one more paranormal entry for this new fall season! A
logic-driven clinical psychologist teams up with a representative from
the Catholic church to investigate strange cases to determine, among
other things, if someone is possessed or a psychopath. Looks intriguing -
could be good. It starts Thursday, September 26.
Favorites Returning to Streaming -
And,
finally, we have several of our favorites returning to streaming
services later this fall. Yes, I realize this is a LOT of shows - we
probably won't dive back into those on streaming until the network shows
go on hiatus for the holidays.
Shameless - We
don't get Showtime, so we have always watched this hilarious family
drama on Netflix, and season 9 just arrived on Netflix - hurray! This is
our "watch during lunch on weekends" show, and it never fails to amuse
us. Those crazy Gallaghers!
Goliath - OK, so this show starring Billy Bob Thornton as a disgraced, alcoholic lawyer had an excellent first season and a seriously bizarre, warped, graphically violent second season.
Thornton is so good, though - as well as the rest of the cast - that
we're willing to give it one more try. It returns for its third season on Amazon Prime on October 4. Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan - This adaptation about the famed character from the Tom Clancy novels stars John Krasinski (Jim on The Office) as a deskbound CIA analyst who gets dragged into field work unwillingly. The first season
was excellent and very movie-like (no surprise since there have been
countless Jack Ryan movies), and we are very much looking forward to its
second season on Amazon Prime, which begins on November 1.
The Man in the High Castle
- This alternate history about a world where the Nazis won WWII has
been fascinating and twisty, with some sci fi/time travel elements added
in. We're looking forward to seeing what happens in season 4, which begins on Amazon Prime on November 15.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisal - I watched season one
of this fabulous show about a wife and mother who wants to be a
stand-up comic in the 1950's on my own, but my husband caught up, and we
watched season two together. We are both excited for season 3 of this original, color-saturated, funny show, starting on December 6 on Amazon Prime.
(I
see my streaming looks biased toward Amazon Prime, but that's just
because we've been watching a bunch of Netflix shows all summer, some of
which I will be reviewing here in coming weeks).
Miracle of miracles, last month, I had a few evenings all to myself! My husband was traveling, my son was working or out with friends, and I had a little much-needed quiet solitude. I also happened to be sick with bronchitis at the time, which prevented me from my usual problem of working too late into the evenings when I am alone. Instead, I indulged in a couple of movies. My favorite from that week was Smart People, a movie with an excellent, all-star cast that was funny and well, smart.
Dennis Quaid plays Professor Lawrence Wetherhold, a cranky, unpleasant English professor at a local college. This guy is a real...uh...let's just say, jerk. His wife died years ago, and he has two kids, a son named James, played by Ashton Holmes, who's attending the same local college and a precocious but cool-seeming daughter named Vanessa, played brilliantly by the talented Ellen Page. Vanessa is in her senior year of high school and clearly very smart, but she seems to have all the social graces of her cantankerous father. When Lawrence suffers a concussion caused by an unexplained seizure, Vanessa is annoyed to have to take time from her tight schedule of academics and activities that look good on college applications to go to the hospital. Sarah Jessica Parker plays Janet, the ER doctor caring for Lawrence. Unable to drive temporarily, Lawrence is saved (though he would argue that) by the unexpected appearance of his adopted brother, Chuck, played amusingly by Thomas Haden Church, who is the complete opposite of Lawrence in many ways. With a rocky start, Lawrence and Janet begin to date. The appearance of both Janet and Chuck into the dysfunctional family's lives shakes things up...in a good way. Hijinks, hilarity, and - in spite of their best efforts - growth ensue.
I really enjoyed this movie. The writing is clever, funny, and entertaining, and the cast is outstanding. Lawrence is truly obnoxious and unlikable at the start of the film, and Vanessa isn't much better, though it's clear that they are both isolated and lonely. Janet - though that relationship has its own problems - and Chuck inject some much-needed life and laughter into their dull, solitary lives. Along the way, there are plenty of laughs, even when things are sad. There are some unexpected twists here, too, but ultimately, things turn out far better than how they started - and I like that in a movie, too. It was a very witty and entertaining 90 minutes.
First Day of Fall? HA! It's going up to 90 degrees F here today (again). Where's that lovely cool fall weather so I can enjoy wearing jeans, socks, and sweatshirts and take long walks outside without getting super sweaty? Ugh. Guess I have to stay inside and read...
Not as much reading time as I'd like last week. Somehow, I ended up with a week filled with five medical appointments (two for my father-in-law which also involve driving 20 min each way to pick him up and drop him off, and three for me), 2 book groups, and a huge grocery shopping trip after being away the week before. Because of my chronic illness, I am normally very careful not to schedule so much at once, so I have quiet days at home every week...but not last week! Luckily, I was fully over my bronchitis and feeling pretty good, though I "crashed" by the end of the week. It was HOT here this weekend, but we had a nice, quiet catch-up weekend at home, plus a relaxing Sunday evening to just chill.
Here's what we've all been reading this past week:
I am focused on dark fall reading for the RIP 2019 Challenge and am still reading The Outsider by Stephen King. You would think I had enough of these hefty books with my Big Book Summer Challenge,
but I had heard great things about this novel from everyone, including
my husband. I hadn't read a King novel in a while, but I am enjoying
this one very much. The basic premise is that a beloved town coach and
father of two is arrested for a horrific crime against a young boy, and
the police have loads of forensic evidence proving this man did it. But
did he? As with all King novels, this one is completely compelling, keeping me reading too late at night. I am nearing the end now, and I think there is a big showdown between good and evil coming up!
I forgot to mention this last week, but I just finished a middle-grade graphic novel, This Was Our Pact by Ryan Andrews. This was decidedly less creepy than the King novel! It's a very sweet story, with just a hint of spookiness, about a group of boys who make a pact to follow the glowing paper lanterns their town sends down the river every year on the fall equinox. Most of the boys give up, but two of them (one who is an outcast), are committed to their quest. Along the way, they encounter talking animals, astounding sights, and plenty of magic. It's a fun adventure story, but it's also a story of true friendship, as the boys bond over their shared goals.
Now, I have moved onto another graphic novel, Old Souls by Brian McDonald (author) and Les McClaine (illustrator). This one is definitely for adults, not kids, with a dark but enthralling concept. A man who is a husband and father works at the mall and meets an old homeless man in the food court. Without really understanding why, he buys the man lunch every day, until one day, the old man tells him that he was the younger's man's grandmother in a past life in China. He says they were separated when the Japanese attacked and then he (she) was killed, and he has spent this life trying to find his long-lost grandson. The younger man does sometimes have dreams of being a small Chinese boy lost in a crowd. This book is so good and so completely fascinating so far! I read Audrey Rose by Frank De Felitta when I was a teenager and have been captivated by the idea of reincarnation ever since. In fact, this graphic novel is making me want to re-read Audrey Rose - yes, I still have the paperback on my shelf from almost 40 years ago! You hang onto the good ones.
On audio, I finished listening to The One Safe Place by Tania
Unsworth, a chilling middle-grade audio book that I downloaded from SYNC
this summer. In a near-future drought-stricken world, a boy named Devin
makes his way to a nearby city he's never visited. Devin's grandfather
has just died, and Devin knows he can't take care of their farm by
himself. In the city, he finds loads of other children on their own,
scrambling to get by and half-starved. When he and his new friend, Kit,
are offered a place at the Gabriel H. Penn Home for Childhood, they are
thrilled to find the remote rural compound filled with beautiful private
rooms, plentiful food, and every toy a child could ever want. Something
seems off about the place, though, and soon Devin discovers a
horrifying secret. He must work with his new friends to find them all a
way out of this nightmare. It was original and
compelling, with a satisfying ending.
Now, I am listening to Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, an audio book I have been looking forward to after hearing so many rave reviews earlier this year. It's about a Korean-American family that runs a business offering hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments, mostly to children with autism or cerebral palsy but for adults and for other health conditions, too. In the very first chapter, their "submarine" aka oxygen chamber blows up, killing and injuring the patients inside. Chapter 2 jumps right into the court case, months later, though there are flashbacks to each of the characters before the explosion. It's great so far and pulled me right in. I want to know what really happened and more importantly, why.
My husband, Ken, finished reading a gift from me, The Winter People by Jennifer
McMahon, a book I had heard great things about since its release in
2014. It's a super-creepy ghost story set in Vermont, with dual
timelines. In 1908, a woman named Sara was found dead in the field behind her
house, just months after her daughter's death. Now, in present day,
nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in that same farmhouse with her mother
and sister. When Ruthie's mother disappears, Ruthie finds an old journal
of Sara's hidden in her mother's bedroom. Ruthie begins reading it and
also gets sucked into the historical mystery. Can she find her mother in
time to stop history from repeating itself? Ken says it is gripping and
intriguing, and he read it pretty quickly. Sounds good to me and perfect for fall!
Now, Ken is reading Receptor by Alan Glynn, the sequel to the novel, The Dark Fields, which was the inspiration for the movie Limitless. Oddly, neither of us read the original novel, but we did both watch the movie and the TV show (my review at the link) adapted from it, so we know the general premise and plot and wanted to read this sequel. From what I've read of the description, it is actually more of a prequel, telling about the origins of MDT-48, the "smart drug" at the heart of Limitless. I think Ken is enjoying it so far.
Our 25-year-old son, Jamie, finished a fantasy novel I picked out for him at at Northshire Bookstore during Booktopia: The Magic of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt, Jr., book one of the Saga of Recluce
series. He says he had some doubts since there is some technology in
this world and guns have been invented (he prefers pre-tech fantasy),
but it turned out OK because guns are almost obsolete in this story due
to the growth of magic. He thoroughly enjoyed that first book, but he's not sure which book in the series to read next because apparently, they are not in chronological order. Book two seems to be more of a prequel, set 100 years before the first book. I told him I had the same concerns about book 2 of The Passage (The Twelve), which is set 100 years after the first book...but I ended up enjoying that one and the last book of the trilogy.
While he's mulling that over, he switched to a new series on his Kindle, What Remains of Heroes by David Benem, book one of Requiem for Heroes. This is another epic fantasy series - that's what he loves! It sounds like an intriguing set-up, and Jamie is enjoying it so far.
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.
We finally managed a full week camping vacation - yay! It was last-minute because I had just gotten over bronchitis, and we weren't sure I could go. So, we made reservations the day before we left, but it worked out well. We wanted to go somewhere not too far away, since we only had a week, but someplace new-to-us to explore. We started our trip in the Hudson River Valley - just 4 hours from home but a place we'd never been. We were stunned to discover how picturesque and undeveloped the Hudson River is, above New York City. We crossed the river at Bear Mountain, near West Point, and camped for a few days at Clarence Fahnestock State Park, making a couple of trips into the waterfront town of Cold Spring. When we left that park to move to the Catskills, we stopped in Poughkeepsie to hike the Walkway Over the Hudson. Here are some highlights of that first part of the trip in the Hudson Valley (Part 2 in the Catskills will be posted on another Saturday):
Hiking around Pelton Pond Trail
Our campsite at Clarence Fahnestock State Park, NY
A squirrel sleeping on a tree branch with its tail over its head!
Sunset campfire view from our campsite
Kayaking on Canopus Lake
Reflections of the rocky shore
First signs of fall! (not much yet)
Gorgeous views of the Hudson from Stony Point in Hudson Highlands State Park
Looking north up the Hudson River
Bookstore in Cold Spring - closed when we got there!
Beautiful sunset from the waterfront in Cold Spring
Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie, NY
Views south of the Hudson River and the nearby car bridge
I recently read - and loved - Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel, the third book in The Themis Files trilogy, a unique sci fi thriller series about alien interaction with humans on Earth. This is a tricky one to review because I can't even say much about book 1 without giving away spoilers, but I will do my best to tiptoe around those plot points because I hate spoilers myself. If you haven't read any of this series yet, I recommend you click over to my review of book 1 and get yourself a copy (and avoid reading the synopsis and cover of book 2 because it contains spoilers). Only Human was a wonderful and satisfying conclusion to an excellent trilogy that my husband and I have both enjoyed immensely.
The story begins in book 1, Sleeping Giants, when a young girl named
Rose Franklin is riding her bike in South Dakota's Black Hills, falls in a huge hole, and discovers a
giant robot hand buried there. Rose grows up to be a scientist on the
team investigating the hand, and it is clear from the beginning that they are not dealing with anything that originated on Earth. In book 2, Waking Gods, things on Earth go from bad to worse in relation to Rose's
discovery and the events following it, as more is learned about this technology from another world. This final book, Only Human, begins with a first contact situation on another planet with Rose and her colleagues. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the situation has rapidly deteriorated in a post-apocalyptic world, as fear rules over logic and certain nations attempt to control as many countries as possible. The book - and the trilogy - ends with the perfect way to
stop humans from destroying each other (if only).
Sorry, that's all the detail you're getting! It's a completely original plot with lots of surprising twists and turns that keep you guessing and gasping from beginning to end. As with the first two books, Only Human is an epistolary novel, here told through journal entries, voice recordings, interviews, and an occasional news report, with entries from the years spent on another planet interspersed with entries from the present back on Earth so that the full story slowly comes together. In this way, the reader gets the perspectives of many different characters. Part of the fun of this third book is in learning about the alien planet, people, and culture. In that way, it reminded me a bit of the lighter sections of The Sparrow (without the horrific violence, though this planet has its own problems). Neuvel has an amazing imagination, on display through all three books, that make the series huge fun to read. At the same time, he frames this unique aliens-from-outer-space story around the real-life problems and issues on Earth today so that these are also very thought-provoking novels, making you think, "What if...?" I always enjoy books that make me think. All in all, my husband and I both enjoyed this third novel and the entire trilogy very much. These were Sylvain Neuvel's first novels, and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next!
334 pages, Del Rey
Random House Audio
NOTE: Movie rights to Sleeping Giants were sold even BEFORE the book was sold to a publisher, in 2014! This trilogy would make some great movies, but it doesn't sound like film development is very far along yet - hurry up, Hollywood!
Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from
these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help
offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.
Listen to a sample of the audio book of Only Human, from the start of the book, BUT ONLY IF YOU'VE ALREADY READ BOOKS 1 AND 2! Spoiler alert, since book 3 begins with Rose recapping previous events.
If you haven't read any of the series yet, try this audio sample from the beginning of book 1, Sleeping Giants.
You can purchase Only Human from an independent
bookstore, either locally or online, here:
I'm a bit late this year because we took a vacation in early September, but here is my Wrap-Up for the 2019 Big Book Summer Challenge! I host this challenge every summer and always enjoy participating in it myself. You can read all the details at the challenge page linked above,
but the bottom line is to read books of 400 pages or longer during the
summer - just one or a few or as many as you want! What I really love
about this challenge is that it gives me the extra incentive I need to
finally tackle some of the longer books I've put off reading - I always
end up reading some really amazing books, and I make a (small) dent in
my overflowing TBR bookcase, too. You can go back to my starting post
for My 2019 Big Book Summer in May to see what books I hoped to get to this season.
First, my own challenge wrap-up:
I ended up reading a record number of 11 Big Books this summer!! Before you get too impressed, I included Big Book audios in my count this summer, so that includes 6 books read in print and 5 listened to on audio. In print, I read:
My reviews are at the links. It looks like a lot, but most of these were in the 400-500 page range (except for Gone with the Wind - that was a total chunkster!). I enjoyed every one of these and really loved many of them. I did also get about halfway through Catch-22 by Joseph Heller but was struggling with it, so I set it aside. I might go back to it later this year.
So, that was my summer, but lots of other people enjoyed a wonderful Big
Book Summer, too. A total of 22 people joined the challenge this year,
with 10 bloggers linking up on the challenge page and another 12 through the Goodreads group
for those who don't have blogs. I enjoyed hearing what everyone was reading this summer, reading all your reviews of
Big Books, and we had some great discussions in the Goodreads group! You
can check out links to other people's reviews and wrap-up posts on the challenge page.
And now, it's time for the 2019 Big Book Summer Giveaway! I'm giving away a $15 Amazon gift card to one lucky participant. I used a random number generator, and the winner of this year's
giveaway is:
I met Chris through Booktopia and her wonderful podcast (with Emily Fine), Book Cougars, so please check out her excellent blog and the podcast! This was Chris' second year participating in Big Book Summer.
Here's to another rewarding, fun Big Book Summer - Congratulations to everyone who participated!
Ahhh...no complaints this week because we just got back from a lovely week-long camping vacation, a much-needed, peaceful, rejuvenating break for my husband and I! We spent a few days in New York's Hudson River Valley, an area we've never visited before, even though it is only 3-4 hours from our home in Delaware. We had no idea the Hudson River was so picturesque and undeveloped (north of NYC), and we thoroughly enjoyed hiking, kayaking, camping, and visiting the beautiful waterfront towns (with lots of indie bookstores). We spent our last few days in the Catskills at North-South Lake, which we visited 24 years ago when our oldest son was a baby - I remembered nothing from that first visit! It was stunningly beautiful there and so peaceful and tranquil - not even any cell service until you got about 15 miles down the mountain! All in all, it was a wonderful and relaxing vacation - our first full week off this year - and just what we needed. Look for photos in my Saturday Snapshot post next weekend.
Of course, part of the fun of camping is LOTS of extra reading time, especially around the campfire in the evening. Here's what we have all been reading this past two weeks since my last Monday post:
I read - and loved - Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel, the third book in The Themis Files trilogy, a unique sci fi thriller about alien interaction with humans on Earth. It begins with book 1, Sleeping Giants, when a young girl named Rose Franklin is riding her bike, falls in a huge hole, and discovers a giant robot hand buried there. Rose grows up to be a scientist on the team investigating the hand. To say any more would spoil this original story with lots of unexpected twists and turns! I also enjoyed book 2, Waking Gods, where things on Earth went from bad to worse in relation to Rose's discovery and the events following it. This final book provided a satisfying ending, with a first contact situation and the perfect way to stop humans from destroying each other (if only). My husband and I both loved this entire trilogy - highly recommended.
Next, I had to set aside my RIP XIV Challenge seasonal reading (which I am thoroughly enjoying) to read a book for one of my book groups this week: Crimes Against a Book Club by Kathy Cooperman. This is a very unusual choice for our book group, which usually discusses meaty novels or nonfiction on important topics, so to be honest, I didn't expect to like it. I am a good book group member, though, so I read it. I was surprised to find that I enjoyed it! It's about two women who are best friends from college now in their 40's. Both need a lot of money (for fertility treatments and for autism treatments for a child), and they come up with a scheme to scam the women in their new book group, all of whom live in the La Jolla area of San Diego, one of the wealthiest enclaves in the country. They mix up their own skin cream (one of the friends is a chemist), include a secret ingredient, and sell it to the other women (with a big story to make it seem exclusive and unique) for $2000 a jar! I expected it to be light and fluffy and, while there were plenty of laughs, there was also a surprising amount of depth to the characters - the snobby wealthy women as well as the two friends. It was a fun read.
Then, I jumped back into my dark fall reading in a big way, with The Outsider by Stephen King. You would think I had enough of these hefty books with my Big Book Summer Challenge, but I have heard great things about this novel from everyone, including my husband. I haven't read a King novel in a while, but I am enjoying this one so far. The basic premise is that a beloved town coach and father of two is arrested for a horrific crime against a young boy, and the police have loads of forensic evidence proving this man did it. But did he? I am a little more than 100 pages in, and, like all King novels, I am hooked. This one includes a puzzling mystery, so it is even more gripping and keeping me reading far too late at night! This was a creepy one to read in a quiet, dark campground at night.
On audio, I have been listening to The One Safe Place by Tania Unsworth, a spooky middle-grade audio book that I downloaded from SYNC this summer. In a near-future drought-stricken world, a boy named Devin makes his way to a nearby city he's never visited. Devin's grandfather has just died, and Devin knows he can't take care of their farm by himself. In the city, he finds loads of other children on their own, scrambling to get by and half-starved. When he and his new friend, Kit, are offered a place at the Gabriel H. Penn Home for Childhood, they are thrilled to find the remote rural compound filled with beautiful private rooms, plentiful food, and every toy a child could ever want. Something seems off about the place, though, and soon Devin discovers a horrifying secret. He must work with his new friends to find them all a way out of this nightmare. It's been good so far - original and compelling.
On our trip (which wasn't very far from home), my husband and I listened to a new short story on audio, Cleaning the Gold: A Jack Reacher and Will Trent Short Story by Lee Child and Karin Slaughter. Since Lee Child is my husband's favorite author, I thought he'd enjoy this one, and we both did. It's a fun set-up: both Jack Reacher (Child's famous character) and Will Trent (Slaughter's recurring character) are undercover at Fort Knox, taking on temporary jobs cleaning the gold bars, which must be done every ten years. Working together, they each soon figure out that the other one is also undercover, though not all the reasons why. When they discover the situation is more complicated and dangerous than either of them expected, they have to team up in order to each meet his own goals. It was a fun story...and fascinating to hear about the inner workings of Fort Knox!
My husband, Ken, finished reading Creole Belle
by James Lee Burke, a prolific and well-loved novelist that neither of
us has ever read before. I bought this one for him for Father's Day at Northshire Bookstore during Booktopia
because I was looking for a new thriller series he might enjoy. The
series features Detective Dave Robicheaux on the Gulf Coast and from
what I read, it sort of combines elements of westerns and thrillers.
There are more than 20 books in this series, but I chose this one
because it was recommended by the booksellers and it is set in New
Orleans, where we used to live. We always enjoy reading books set in our
favorite city, and my husband also lived in the Houston area for almost
ten years, so he liked the Gulf Coast setting. He enjoyed this novel and said he would read more from Burke.
Now, Ken is reading another gift from me, The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon, a book I had heard great things about since its release in 2014. It's a super-creepy ghost story set in Vermont, with dual timelines. In 1908, a woman was found dead in the field behind her house, just months after her daughter's death. Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in that same farmhouse with her mother and sister. When Ruthie's mother disappears, Ruthie finds an old journal of Sara's hidden in her mother's bedroom. Ruthie begins reading it and also gets sucked into the historical mystery. Can she find her mother in time to stop history from repeating itself? Ken says it is gripping and intriguing so far, and he's not sure whether this mystery is actually supernatural or not. Sounds good to me and perfect for fall!
Our 25-year-old son, Jamie, has also been reading a gift book, a fantasy novel I picked out for him at at Northshire Bookstore during Booktopia because it sounded like exactly the kind of story he loves: The Magic of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt, Jr., book one of the Saga of Recluce series. He says he had some doubts since there is some technology in this world and guns have been invented (he prefers pre-tech fantasy), but it turned out OK because guns are almost obsolete in this story due to the growth of magic. All in all, I think I hit it right - he's really enjoying it so far!
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.
